Shoes



15, 1960 J. H. SCHLESINGER 2,959,874

- snoss Filed May 4, 19

H65 H67 FIG.8

l6 l8 l9 l7 IN V EN TOR.

ATTORNEY FIG.II W o as I O o O 16 25 JOSEPH H-SCl-ILESINGER,

United States Patent SHOES Joseph H. Schlesinger, New York, N.Y., assignor to Eagle Chemical Co., New York, N.Y.

Filed May 4, 1959, Ser. No. 810,823

1 Claim. (Cl. 36-34) The present invention relates to shoes for golfers and more particularly to improvements applicable for example in the golfers shoes set forth in my Patent No. 2,855,704, issued October 14, 1958.

Said patented shoes offer the golfer the means to obtain a firm support for the correct foot position and control of the golf swing when taking a stance for play. They automatically compel the attainment of such correct position. The constructions taught in said patent require various portions of the undersurfaces of the heel regions to be sloped so that when the shoes are in upright position, such sloping surfaces thereof are in upward convergent relation. Upon taking a stance for play, said sloping undersurfaces shift to contact the ground, thereby automatically compelling the player into correct position. For a full explanation of this, reference is had to the specification of said patent, and various details of structure will again be set forth herein as may be necessary to explain the present invention.

In taking a step in normal walking, it is the remote rear portion of the undersurface of the heel region, which is the first part of the shoe to contact the ground. In taking a step with said patented shoe whose heels undersurface has a slope across the heel, the contact first made with the ground will be on such. sloping undersurface at the remote rear of the shoe. Hence there will be a tendency to roll the heel of the shoe in a lateral direction inwardly upon first contact wtih the ground. This would cause a deviation from normal walking manner.

It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide a novel and improved construction utilizing the teachings of my said patent, but to avoid any deviation from normal walking action so that there is no occurrence of any distortion from the natural in the successive positions taken by all parts of the foot during normal walking.

For the practice of the present invention, I provide my said patented golfers shoes with a transversely horizontal undersurface region at the rear portion of the heel region of the bottom member of the shoe, so that the shoe, in the taking of a step, will start in normal upright position at first contact with the ground. Then, because the os calcis is the strongest bone upon which the body weight is transmitted onto the ground and being a bone which extends along the outer lateral side of the foot, a length at least equal to or even longer than the heel region of the shoe, the kinetic energy imparted to the leg, which is a condition of mass in motion, causes skipping over the length of the heel region having the transversely sloping undersurface, because of inertia, and further, the os calcis will transmit the body weight onto the ground in normal walking, until the flat sole comes onto the ground, when the shoe, which now of course, is in normal upright position on the ground, ready for the next step.

The slanted undersurface of the heel region is to be always of sufficient area to give firm support when the player takes a stance for 'play. The plane of the underice surface region at the remote rear portion of the heel region ofv a shoe, contains the line of the sloping undersurface of the heel region which is the inner lateral edge of the thinnest part of the heel.

In the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Fig. 1 shows the outer side of the left shoe in walking position on the ground. The bottom member of this shoe, and that of its right mate, embody the teachings of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a rear view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows the inner face of the shoe of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 shows a front view of either shoe in walking position and in particular, this view is taken as a section at line 4,-4 in Fig. 1. 1

Fig. 5 shows'the outer view of the left shoeas'it'comes into contact with the ground upon taking a step.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view showing the rear of the shoe shown in the position it is in Fig. 5.

Figs. 7 and 8 are rear view of a pair of shoes in playing position.

Figs. 9 and 10 are fragmentary perspective views of the bottom members of a pair of shoes embodying this invention. In Fig. 9, dash and dot lines are shown to explain the construction.

Fig. 11 shows the undersurface of the left shoe indicating spikes along the thinner edge of the heel region and also on the sole.

In the drawing showing a preferred embodiment of this invention, the top surface 15 of the bottom member is horizontally transversely thereof when the shoes are in normal upright position as shown in Figs. 1-4. Excluding the remote rearward regions 16 and 17 the heel regions undersurfaces 18, 19 respectively, slope downwardly from the inner lateral edge to the outer lateral edge thereof and such sloping undersurfaces are oif the ground when each shoe is in normal upright position; said shoes being tiltable from normal upright position to the position shown in Figs. 7 and 8, wherein the sloping undersurfaces contact the ground respectively. Hence, in playing position, the pair of shoes assume the position as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. Said remote rearward regions 16 and 17, are preferably of uniform thickness, and as to each shoe, the plane of the undersurface of said remote rearward heel region, contains the line AB which is the inner lateral bottom edge of the thinnest part of the heel. The heels shown in Figs. 9 and 10, may be built up of a wedge-shaped piece 20 on the undersurface of the piece 21 which is of uniform thickness, and their perimeters cut to make the required perimetral contours. It is to be noted that the undersurface 16 merges with the sloping undersurface 18, and the same is done for the undersurfaces 17 and 19 as indicated by their respective junctions with the downwardly forwardly sloped heel portions 22 and 23 respectively, so as to avoid interference for obtaining an immediate comfortable horizontal foot adaptation with the ground in walking. Each heel structure may be said to be comprised of a thick forward portion which is joined by a sloping portion like 22, to a reduced rear portion as 16.

In standing, or in normal walking, when a step taken is completed, the shoe 24 is in upright position as in Figs. 14, and the sloping surface 18 is off the ground. Now, in taking a step in normal walking, the undersurface 16, which as mentioned is transversely horizontal, is the first part of the shoe to contact the ground as is shown in Fig. 5. Here, contact is made with the ground on horizontal lines or lanes of the undersurface 16. This, because of the inertia of the shoe in motion, sets the pattern for the balance of the step to its completion when the sole 25 rests flat on the ground, as heretofore explained.

If desired, the undersurfaces of the shoes may be provided with downwardly extending spikes 26 on the sole as is well known, and also the spikes 27 along the thinnest lane of the heel which is along the inner lateral side of the shoe.

Although I have chosen a heeled shoe to illustrate a preferred embodiment of this invention, it is evident that it is equally applicable to the heel-less shoe construc tion shown in my said Patent No. 2,855,704, and therefore, the claim set forth herein shall apply to shoes having heels or having no heels.

This invention is capable of numerous forms and various applications without departing from the essential features herein disclosed. It is therefore intended and desired that the embodiment herein shall be deemed illustrative and not restrictive and that the patent shall cover all patentable novelty herein set forth; reference being had to the following claim rather than to the specific description herein to indicate the scope of this invention.

I claim:

A heel construciton for a shoe comprising a thick forward portion connected to a reduced rear portion by a sloping portion; the undersurface of said reduced portion being horizontal transversely thereof when the shoe is in normal upright position and the undersurface of said thick portion sloping downwardly from the inner lateral edge towards the outer lateral edge thereof with said sloping undersurface of said thick portion being off the ground when the shoe is in normal upright position; the undersurface of said rear portion being distant from the ground at least the height from the ground of the inner lateral edge of the sloping undersurface of said thick portion when the shoe is in normal upright position; said shoe being tiltable from normal upright position to a position where said sloping undersurface of said thick portion contacts the ground.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Schlesinger Aug. 19, 1958 2,855,704 Schlesinger Oct. 14, 1958 

